Close to 900 million people across the Global South live in densely packed urban slums, which often sit in floodplains. A new study finds that one in three slum dwellers is at risk of “disastrous” flooding, a risk that is set to grow as warming spurs more intense rainfall around the world.
“Slums in the Congo Basin used to face flooding to an extent that communities could deal with,” Gode Bola, of the Congo Basin Water Resources Research Centre, told Carbon Brief. “Rainfall, which is where climate change is coming in, has meant people are facing larger floods, and it’s difficult for people to adapt.”
The new study uses satellite imagery, household survey data, and population data to map the risk of flooding in slums in 129 countries across the Global South. It found that 33 percent of slum dwellers live in areas that have historically seen “disastrous” flooding, meaning flooding that led to severe disruption or death. Slums in northern India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Rwanda, northern Morocco, and coastal Brazil were hotspots for such floods, according to the research, published in Nature Cities.
The U.N. defines slums as areas lacking secure, durable housing, access to clean water, or sanitation. Slums often go up in floodplains because the land is cheap, and few slum dwellers can afford to leave. Said Bola, who was not involved in the new research, “They buy this plot of land for life, and asking them to relocate is asking them to have savings to buy another plot when there are no loans or government assistance.”
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